38 F. 416 -

38 F1d 416

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Case Text

416

J'EDERAL REPORTER,vol.

38.

altered by· manufacturers to suit the requirements of purchasers, and thll.t old shl'Lpes, if modified by the rejection of existing features, and by the substitution therefor of other features which were known before the date ofthe patent, would be the patented shape. This position is most strongly exhibited in the supposed combination of the Jenifer-McClellan and the Granger saddles, each of which exisited prior to 1878. It is truly said that the military Jenifer or the Jenifer-McClellan saddle-tree had a high, peaked cantle, and a high, prominent pommel, whereas the Granger tree had a "cut back" pommel, and a low, broad cantle; and the argument is that the front half of the Granger and the rear half of the military Jenifer made the Whitman, without the exercise of invention. It is true, using language broadly, that the Whitman tree shows prominent features of each of these two trees, and united two halves of old trees, but the inference that therefore the product or result of Whitman's study and experiment was destitute of invention, does not follow. A mechanic may take the legs of one stove, and the cap of another, and. the door of another, and make a new design which has no element of invention; but it does not follow that the result of the thought of a mechanic who has fused together two diverse shapes, which were made upon different principles, so that new lines and curves,and a harmoni" ous and novel whole, are produced, which possesses a new grace, and .which has a utility resultant from the new shape, exhibits no invention. This was effected by the patentee, and I entertain no doubt that the shape which he produced was entitled to a patent. Let thel'e bean interlocutory decree for an injunction and an accounting.

The invention described in letters patent No. 878,098, November 15, 1887, to H. H, Sessions. is a frame-shaped plate applied vertically and transversely to the end of a railway car. The frame is of about the height of the car, and is 10 fixed that it can have no lateral motion except with the lateral motion of the body of the car, and is projected a short distance beyond the end of the car by backing springs. It is claimed that when the uars are coupled the plates act as spring buffers in frictional contact under constantly opposing spring pressure between the superstructures of the cars. and that part of the force of the bottom springs is transmitted along the plates to their tops. and that the plates diminish the shock of a collision, and resist the forces tending to create oscillation. Prior devices lacked such frictional contact under constantly opposing spring pressure, and such transmission of force. The invention was promptly adopted by the principal railroad companies, and there was evidence that trains on which it is used suffer less from collision, and that the cars sway less, than in the case of trains not using it. Held, that the device possessed patentable novelty and utility.

SAME-SUFFICIENCY OF SPECIFICATION.

As a skilled mechlJ,nic could construct the three forms of buffers described from the specification and drawings, the specification in that respect is suf· ficient, though but one form is shown in the drawingl. .,

PULLMAN PALACE.CARCO. t1.,W-tGNER PALACE CAR CO.S.SAME-STRENGTH OF

417

The patentee was not obliged to limit himself to top springs of any particular strengtll, but it was snfficient that he described liprings powerful eno,ugh to diminish shocks and furnish frictional resistance tl> counteract wholly Of' · partly the forces producing oscillation. ' " 4. S.um-lNFRINGEMEN'I'-MECHANICAL CHANGE. substitution of an elliptic spring for a coiled spring, the patentee not limiting himself to the latter, is merely 8. mechanical change, and is insufficient to avoid a charge of infringement.

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' Suit by the Pullman Palace Car Company against the Wagner Palace Car 'Company, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company, and others, to restrain the infringement of a patent. Offield TIYWl6, B. F. Thurston, and Runnels &- Burry; for complainant. George Payson and Thacher, for defendants. Before GRESHAM and BLODGETT, JJ.
GRESHAM, J. This suit was bro\lght for an injunction and damages for infringement of letters patent No. 373,098, issued to Henry Howard Sessions" on November 15, 1887, for a "new I\-nd useful roent in the construction of railroad .cars," and assigned by him, before issue, to the complainant. The improvement is thus described in the specifications:

In Equity.

"',rhe invention hereinafter particularly described Is embodi in the appli:'d cation to the individual cars, which, when coupled. will compose a train, of a frame-shaped plate arranged in a vertical plane parallel with a vertical transverse frame passing through the car bQdy, and projecting, by means of backingsprings, for a short distance beyond the end of,thecar. The height of said' frame-plate, for the best results, should be s ul:istantialiy that of the height of the car to which it is attached; and the same should be sO/:lhaped as toallow free communication between the ends of adjacent cars for the' passage' of, persons through such frame Plates. The purpose of j)he impro\'emt>nt is twofold: First,to diminish the ri1ckingeffect upon a car body, due to its mo. lllentum when it is suddenly brought from a statl' of mQtion to a state of res,t from any cause, as well as the same injurious consequences when a car, is sud. denly started from a state of rest; secondly. to diminish the tendency a· swaying or oscillating movement, which is developed whenever If. tl'ain is running at. :high speed upon an ordinary railroad track. The end to be accomplished is to cause frame plates to act as spring buffers whenever cars are being coupled, or whenever a train Is SUddenly qhecked or started, and also to act as frictional resistance plates to oppose or countt>ract the influences which tend toinduce a swaying or oscillating movement in the several cars of If. train. In place of the arra'ngement of springs shown to exert pressure upon the frame plate, it is obvious that any other can be sllbstituted which will meet the requirements of necessity or convenience. according to the judgment or choice of the constructor. * . . ... To employ this improvement it is not necessary that the ordinary spring. buffers in use should be .dispensed with. In my judgment it would be well to retain such appliances todlminish the effect of shocks. By my improvement the body of the car is stayed against the racking effect of such shocks by the yielding frame-plate buffer, which is applied not merely in the line of horizontal planes of the' platforms, but also in the Jines of vertical planes extending substantially to the top of the superstructure. whereby the duration of tlje life of the car is greatly promoted.

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FEDERAL RlllPORTER,

vol. 38.

front ends of the upper set of backingsprlngs take their bearupper comers, of the or, as shown in the.,iV/,t-WiIigl,l, against shoulders o:n"the c',whiclJ. bars are jointed to the frame p1ateat '0', The rear the sprIngs llbut against the ends of of these keepers the bars, c, r!, can the keepers, k, k', and through slide.';rhese showu. as bolted to the sides of the vestibule extension .of the car,bQdy,.q.nd the coiled springs, t, t', are, for convenience, wonnd around the rods or bars, c, c'. In case there should be no vestibule extension of the car body. the keepers may be attached in any convenient way to the main body of the car, so as to furnish resisting abutments the springs, and guides for the rods connecting with the frarneplate·. The spring pressure t6 act against the lower portion of the frRlneplates IsootainM, as exhibited in' the drawings, from the coiled spring, m,' which takes a bearing atone end against the solid frame-work of the car, and at the' ot\lerendagainsta cross-head. beneath the. entrance platform car, which cross-head, of the rigid linkS, 8, fl. is connected with the threshold of the frame-plate. a, the ;said links or bar.!! 8, 8'. being knuckle,. . . . jointed to the threshold-plate, 0." . The twoclaill,1s, is alleged are iI1fringed, read: "(1) The cpmbina,tion with the end of a railway car ofa frame-plate or equivalent series <if buffers back'ed by springs. arranged with its face in a vertical plane. and normally projecting beyond tha 'end of the car, whereby, upon the cotiplIng of twocaiJ's. a spring buffer will be interposed between the superstrncttires of such adjacent cars above their platforms, 'and also frictional surfaces under opposing spring pressures to prevent the racking of the car frames upon oppose the ten,dency of tbe cars to sway as hereinbef',ore set fortb. (2) The laterallywhen in motion. combinatioJ!.,ofaspring bulier plate with the. ends of the adjacent cars of a traiJ!.. said buffers being,locllted on the ends of the superstructures the cars, resp .ectiyely, and.·.s. Qbstan,.tia.ll.y. at he. tpps. Of.· the same. and so ar. ranged that whep thll two coupled tbefaces of the bUffer!;lwiIl bear sUbstantiallya!;l andfor the puragainst each otbE(rin CoAtact posesspecitled." .. . , ._,. . , .. It is claimed that by attaching the Sessions rigidly to the 'cal' bOdies, so that the frame-plates have no capacity to move sidewise independentlY,' of the, :movementof the Cars, thefranie-plates act as spri't;1g puffers under cOl1sw-ntly opposing spring pressure be;.; tWeellthflsuperatrijcturesofthe cars"Rlld that, thuscombined.with the ends ofthe cars, and acting in co-operation with the platform springs, the bufferplates are far more effective in dissipating the force/Of shocks in collisions, and inresistifig the forces which to createoscillatioll, than if they were in close ptoniity, or even in frictional but not under such pressure. IfillDotclainieu possesses the meJ;it of. enrely overcoming the to oscillation in cars in motion. . All that is claimed ,for it is the power to dissipate the force of shocks, and to resist and'overcome the swaying tendency to an appreciable and useful degree,as compa,red with anything. previously known in the ·art. unevenness and'durvatures in carll in Illotion to it is Sessions . sPllcial merit, ,as compared with preyiQpsdevices of the same character, in its ability to counteract the first impulses to these oscillatory movements. "It is common experience," says the specification, "that when il. train of drawing. room or

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PULLMAN

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CAB CO.

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istrllveling atbigh speed t;here is induced.in each tend.;. ency .to sway or oscillate laterally·. The force which. induces this teud., encYlDay berelativelYltalig]:J.t matter; 1;>ut itjl continu.edrepetition.results in an aggregation of impulses which accelerate.the os.cillations and unpleasant effects upon thepassengel,'s especially when the road-bed has reverse ClIrVeS, even of great radius. Especially is this experienced ip trains ofsleeping-cars which are provided with upper sleeping berths, constituting,when occupieq, a weight elevated high above the center of , gravity The effect of my improvement is to pr9videa resistance to this, tendency, to oscillation by checking the same at the outset before the impulses which produce it have accumulated. The 81lrfaces of the springbacked frame-plates in contact of resisting all ordinary impulses to oscillation induced by the movement of the train. Moreover, as the cars of a train do not generally sway in unison, but oscillate aecording, to the effect of particular accidents or influences, the effect 01 combining the cars of a train by the aid of frictional surfaces in contact under considerable pressure, such as I have shown, lsto dissipate all the lateral movements of each car throughout all the other cars so connected, and thus give steadiness· to the whole train." The value of the Sessions device as RIneans of making collisions less injurious;, and of diminishing the oscillation of cars in motion. and thereby promoting the and convenienceof the traveling public, is a1;>undantlyestablished by the evidence in the, record. Its prompt adoption by the leading railroads of the the Baltimore & Ohio, with its numerous sharp, curves, attests its merits, and the large number of intelligent witnesses, many of them disinterested, who have testified from experience ll.nd observation ·of its steadying effect, leave no room for doubt upon this branch of the case. Persons, traveling on cars equipped with the improvement, are. less affected by swaying movements than when traveling on cars not so equipped. Persons troubled with nausea experience less discomfort on trains operated with the improvement attached than when traveling; on cars not so operated. Persons occupying upper berths of cars operated with the improvement attached experience less discomfort than previously, and trains operated with the improvement have sustained less injury in collision than trains colliding without it. 'rhese results are attributable to the Sessions device. On the evidence they. can be accounted for in'no other way. Before discussing the patents, machines, and publications, which are relied on as anticipations of the Sessions improvement, we will briefly advert to the marked difference between English and American railway cars.' American cars of the Pullman and Wagner class are from 50 to 80 feet long, 10 feet or more high,and rest at either end upon six and eight wheel trucks. The cars and trucks are connected by means of swiveling" joints, to allow the cars to keep the track,and tum cttrves. The floors or platforms rest upon the trucks; and the cars, which are heavy, arenecessarily str()llgly braced and trussed to stand the s,evere strain to which they are subjected. English cars are about one-third the length and twothirds the heightof cars. They are wounted on

420

FEDERAL REPoRTER,

vol. 38.

rigid down-hangings, secured to the sills of the platforms, so as to admit of a vertical spring . They have no swiveling attachment or' movem.ent, for the easy turning of curves, and the car bodies are neces-sarily short,-so short as to be within the unit of each curve they travei, otherwise they would leave the track. Owing to their comparative great length and height, our American cars, in motion, have a stronger tendency to sway than English curs. If it were possible to operate American cars with platform buffers three or four feet from the center of oscillation, as in England, there would be less necessity for the Sessions device, or indeed, for elevated buffers of any kind. As to the platform. buffers described in the Ellglish and American patents found in the defendants' record, it is sufficient to say that in construction and mode of operation they are unlike the Sessions frame-plates in frictional contact under constantly opposing spring pressure interposed between the superstructures of the car bodieS, and so attached to them that part of the force of the bottom or platform springs is transmitted along the frame-plates to their tops. While the Miller coupler and buffer, with its single central pair of coupling faces, and the Janney coupler and buffers, with their faces 26 inches apart, were great improvements on previous means of coupling American cars, they lacked the essential elements or features which characterize the Sessions organization. The English patent granted to Symons in 1847 describes buffers attached to the ends of cars at or near the top as distinguished from platform buffers, or buffers lower down on the car ends, so' that in case of shocks or collisions the top buffers may come in contact and press upon each other, and thereby prevent the force of the lower buffers from causing the cars to rise and fall upon or override each other. The idea of -these top buffers being in contact under spring pressure to prevent or' diminish oscillation, is nowhere suggested in the specifications. It is only in case of collisions and SUdden concussions that they are forced into contact. In order to steady the car bodies', lind prevent them from swaying under ordinaryt'Conditions, the faces of these elevated buffets should be in frictional contact, which is not the case. It is true, the patent speaks of a means of diminishing oscillation,buHt is in connection with an improvement for the purpose of traction op propillsion. In explaining the advantage of connecting the carriages for traction at two points instead· of one, as was then usual, the specifications say: ' "It is obvious that when carriages in a train moving at high velocity are attached to each otbe1' only at one poi'nt in the center, as at present is the practice, they must have a separate tendency (especially the last carriages) to oscillate 01' rock from. rail to rail if the ·slightest obstacle be presented on the rail to either of the wheels on the aide of. the flange. It is also obviolls that, if the carriages are attached at twop01nts, as above provided for,the tendency to oscillate would be connteracted, if not obviated entirely."
c

. The top buffers described in this patent are shown in sections of spheres, for which reason, as wellas;tthers already mentioned, they are not capable of diminishing oscillation. The English patent granted to Dyer in' 1864 shows elevated buffers, intended" to alter or change the

PULLMAN PALACE CAR (:0. 11. WAGNER PALACE CAR (:0.

421

line of concussion, in order to lessen the tendency of the carriages to overturn, or rise on end, in the event of collision." These buffers, like; the Symons top buffers, are not in contact under ordinary conditions, and, in view of the office which they are expected to perform, it is not necessary that they should be. It is only in case of collisions, or violent, sudden shocks, that they are brought into play. The means designed to prevent oscillation are thus described: "I propose to place the wheels at the sides of the carriages, to bring the center of gravity within or between the wheels, and thus prevent osciUatiO,n, and give increased steadiness and security to the carriage. 1 propose to make the wheels revolve on their axles, instead of being fixtures thereto, so as to prevent the danger attendant on traveling round curves, and also to lessen the injurious rpsults of oscillation upon the nervous system of passen::' gel's. I also propose to increase the diameter of the wheels to about five feet, or about equal to the base or breadth of the carriage, or Jess. as may be required, to resist the overhanging weight and tendency to overturn, and to give greater steadiness to the motion of the carriage generally." If the elevated buffers were intended to be in contact as a means of preventing oscillation, and if they are in fact so shown in the patent and drawings. why did the patentee describe other and different meallS for that purpose without mentioning the elevated huflers in the same connection? But, treating them as in contact, they are not under such spring pressure as to produce friction which will resist the tendency of, cars to sway to any appreciable extent, as the Sessions buffers do. The English Garvey patent of 1852 is "for more effectually dissipating the' shock of collision in railway trains, reducing the suriaceexposed to atmO!!!pheric resistance, and diminishing oscillation." The means em"' ployed by the patentee for accomplishing the last-named purpose are, described in the specifications to be sQ.ields or frames attached to and covering the end of the cars, which jrames are supported on the ends of .four iron rods, attached rigidly to the car body, at or neat its four. comers. The shields are attached to the ends ofthe rods by means of volute springs. They are light, and covered with felt, and are forced into close contact when the cars are screwed together into a train by means of draw-links. The shields are capable, however, ofnioving vertically or "laterally, independently of, the rods" which support them, and they would therefore be worthless as a means of resisting the tend-, ency of American cars to oscillate. Whatever merit this device has in diminishing lateral movements of cars consists in the pressure of. the volute springs. In speaking of the action of these shields, the specifications say: " As these surfaces are covered with thick and strong felt. they cohere sufficiently to prevent them from sliding over each other, whilst the shields, possessing a universal mobility, will remain in close contact with each other, whatever may be the position of the carriages, whether they are turning a curve, or passing over a rise, or running on a Ihle." Although i,his device may diminish oscillation, not by the friction of ,the shields in contact, but by the of the. volute Rprings, it is different in principle from the .means employed by Ses-

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sUms fOl'JltCIComplishlngthe' sanie purpose, namely,. frictional resistance afforded :by Itwo· vertical franie-plates in contact under constant opposing spring; pressure each other,and yet resisting the tendenoy to'move, alidso attached to the car bodies that the force of the platform :is effecti transmitted along the plates, even to their topsi,;ThieWliller provisiontiJapecification of 1871 is relied on llS a publication. The means employed; "by which, incase of a collision brokerij the injury to passengers is greatly taking place, diminished;" are as fdllows: The entire ends of the cars are covered with a sheet of rubber one inch thick,which, in turn, is covered with th.tee-eighths of an upon which' fourteen, or more, one foot, sqllare and one .inch thick, are placed to rubber, reoeive'anequal number of spiral flat springs, two feet long when not cO'lllpressed ,India-rubber sockets cover the outer ends of these springs, which sockets are covered With sheet-iron plates, tied together by flat strips of metal. Over all this is 'placed another sheet ofIndia-ru bber, half an inch thick. "The carriages," say the specifications, "constructed in this way.; ,when coupled, touch, one another 011 a surface of not less than feet, the springs being then reduced to one foot nine inches in length, and the whole train becomes a solid and flexible mass, ao that His imposSible for one buffer not to act upon another. It will be remarked that I never have two.ordinary surfaces touching each other, which .is an .important feature." There is a wide difference in organization andtnode of operation between this mass of compressed rubber and springs attached to the ends of railway cars, and the Sessions device, as already explained. The English patent of 1845 to Fuller. describes elaStic cushions, or leather or rubber sacks filled with wool, or other flexible material, and interposed between the ends of cars, so that in caseoi oollision, the cushions may diminish the effect of the conousThe cushions are made on strong wooden, or metal, frames attached v:erticnlly to the ends of the cars, and backed by strong springs on slidingrodsatt8ched to the cars at the top and bottom by long iron sockets·.: These cushions, which act as buffers, are intended to be used with or without the ordinary buffers. If these cushion buffers are shown in contact, under ordinary conditions, they do not operate as frictional surfaces,Hke the Sessions frame-plates. The principle upon which the two organizations act is not the same. The English Bessemer patent of 1847 is, in .part, for a hood-like organization to close the open space between theen,ds.ofcars in a train, ,and thereby avoid the resistance of atmospheric pressure when the cars are running at a high rate of speed., Tbe hood is described as similar. to the hood ofthe ordinary road carriage. The frame-plate or bowie pivoted at the bottom to the buffers, mOves with 'them, and is forced out at thEl top by a spring. The deVice'is somElwhlit :diffic.U:lt to understand, but it is so constructed and provided with hinges, springs,piIls, rods, cranks, and levers as .to be· capable of being expanded and folded back. In one form .it is described as 'attached to' a wooden struCture built out from the clir to half tbe'spaee 'betWeen the cars in a train. · Ftictional resistance, as a means

PULLMAN PALACE CAR CO. 'It·· WAGNER PALACE CAR (',().

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of opposing the tendency ofthe car bodies to sway, ,was not contemplated by Bessemer, and his device, which never went into practical use, so far as the evidence shows, is not capable of preventing lateral movements of the cars. His aim was to inclose the space between the ends of the cars ina train with a hood, so constructed that it would adjust itself . to the movement of the cars and keep the spacl;; inclosed, and thereby prevent the pressure of the atmosphere from impeding the progress of trains. In mode of operation it is unlike· the Sessions improvement. The patent granted by the United States in 1852 to Smith was for ad"! justable flexible hoods so constructed and attached to the ends of. cars as "to afford ready and convenient means (If passage from one car to the other without danger to passengers." Instead. of using a single frame, or carriage bow, as Bessemer does, Smith uses several. which he unites by cloth, or other thin material. His hoods, which were composed of flexible strong material, are supported and held in position by ligh' ribs or frame pieces. His forward, or front bows, come together to .pre<vent the entrance of cinders and dust, and they are coveredwithi ing. It is. plain that the faces of these· bows or plates, thus brought into contact, are ,not intended to counteract or diminish the movement of cars. Frictional resistance to the tendency of cars to sway is not contemplated. In speaking of the action of the hoo<;lsand their ends the specifications. say: "They can freely slide against each other and accommo4ate tllemselvesto the vibrations orrOckings of the car, ana that ina perfectly independent manner, and beed no other fastenings. One end ofthe·.hood is secured to end of a car, while the other end ,i,s.free .to move all tions." . . It is· undoubtedly true that in some of its elements the Smith hood i$ like the Sessions organization. Smith's patent describes bows or fJ.:am6s in contact between the superstructures of cars under spring pressure,Dut they are free to move in all,directions, and. do. not .therefore ·resist the tendency of the car bodies to sway, Thl3 English granted to,Roqk Chidley in 1865, like the Smith and other patents of the saml;l class,is for' a means of inclosing the space between the ends of cars in a, train. A single hood is athtched to the end of alear, and its construction that it is capable of being extended'or expanded so as to reach the end is attached rigidly to the car of the adjacent car. supported upon heavykon rods; and the hood is extended by spiral springs which force the frame plates into contact with the adjaGent "Above theplatform,"'says tbespecification, "I provide a sliding fram(ll over which is stretched a hood or covering ,of watElI,' proof material. ,.1ihis frame is kept expanded by but when pref;\sure is appH!.lQ.tort, by the ends of adjoining. carriages approaching other, it ,will tially collapse, like a carriage hood, and stillatrollQ. protection fromithe weather." Chidley's hood, as it is described: in the patent, lSllgiC0Dr structed and attached to cars'thatl"when a nU,mper are brought together they'will forma saloon, the whole length of .the; ,aI).d thlls afford easy communication throughout the whole length ·of the train and, atford

FEDERAL REPORTER,

vol. 38.

the passengers proteotion from the weather." His organization is provided withsprillgs strong enough to expand the hood and cause its face, or frame,to bear against the end of the adjacent car. The idea of diminishing os<iillation in this way never occurred to Chidley, and it is . plain that his device is useless for that purpose. ,He had in mind and described a flexible hood, con'lposed of cloth, leather, or rubber, sup. ported bya frame capable of oollapsing in order that the device should yield freely to the movemen.tot trains. It is urged that this patent shows a spring strong i:nough to keep the frame-plate in contact with the end of the adjacent car, and if these springs are not as strong as the Sessions springs, the· difference is one of degree only. It is not material, in the operation of this·device, that the face-plate be kept in frictional contact with thecarendj and,if it is shown in contact, it is, by no means clear that oscillation can be thereby diminished. The patent does not show two frame-pilttes in frictional contact under opposing spring pressure, and the difference between the Chldley and the Sessions device is not in degree, but in kind. Previous;to 1873, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company attached to the ends of its cars, or some of them, canopy covers to prevent oinders from the locomotives falling upon the car platforms. None of these attachments have been used since the lastnamed date;' when thf'y appear to have been discarded as useless. The defendants insist that these hoods operated as spring buffers, and fully anticipated the Sessions patent. ,Four inch iron rods, by springs, were attached rigidly at the tdpsof the car bodies. Two of the rods supportedha+f:of the canopy franie', or board, which was one inch or more thiok, facad with 'sheet or tlUb. iron, and hinged in the middle. The frame-work was forced out by the springs, and when the cars were coupled the spllings Were compressed and the faces of the' boards, or ends of were brought;into contact. This rude device was not the capable of diminishing oscillation. It is also insisted that the Sessions pateb.tis void fOfwant'of a definite oro.ccurate specificationj that itdaims three different forms of buffers, and shows but i(me in the drawings, and that the strength of the top springs is noWhere stated. Treating the drawings as part of the specificatiOils, the first claim covers of buffers, the frame-plates used by both the plaintiff and the defendants, and their equivalent series of buffers, and the,second claim covers buffers under similar pressure, located at the top or ends of the cars. A skilled mechanic, with the drawings and speoifications belorehim, would have no trouble in understanding how to make the buffers covered by the two claims, and Sessions was not obliged to limit himself to !top springs of any particular strength. He described springs powerful enough to accomplish a result, namely, springs of suffioient strength to diminish the force of shocks, and furnish frictional resistance to counteract in whole or in part the forces which produce vibrlltion or oscillation of the car-bodies. "It is further insisted by the defendants that they do not infringe, because they use an elliptic spring to force out the upper ends oithe bufferplates, instead of the coiled springs described 'in the Sessions patent.

PULLMAN PALACE CAR CO. II. WAGNER PALACE CAR CO.

425

Sessions did not limit his invention to the.use of coiled springs, and the use.of the elliptic spring. was contemplated by the patent. In all other respects, the defendants' device corresponds exactly with the patented device, and the substitution of an elliptic spring for a coiled one was purely a mechanical change. Again, the defendants'· counsel insist that friction does not depend at all upon the extent of surface, but solely upon th¢ force with which the surfaces are compressed, and that, therefore, the frictional resistance of the Sessions frame-plates in contact is precisely what it would be if the surfaces were larger or smaller under the same degree of pressure. While that may be true, and doubtless is, when the surfaces in contact are perfectly smooth, it is equally true that in proportion as the surfaces are roughened, the frictional resistance increases. H may be admitted that, if the buffer spring-plates were not forced togetherat the top as shown in the patent, the platform springs would exert little, ifaoy. influence at the upper end of the frame-plates. With the buffer-plates rigidly attached to the top ends of the cars, and held ina substantially vertical line, without capacity to move sidewiSe 'independently of the car bodies, the 'pressure of the platform springs against the foot of the plates necessarily be tra9smitted;toa or less degree, along the plates to their ,very top.' If it were the Sessions device would, indeed, be a worthless iOcumbrance,and the defendants would have abandoned it as promptly as they adopted it without right. In this respect the Sessions organization differs from all pporbuffing devices. The record fails to show elevated spring buffers, or frame-plates, c<roperating with platform buffer-springs. prior to the Sessions invention. It required more than mere mechanical skill to see that the pressure of the platform buffer-springs could be made effective in vertical lines between the superstructures onhe cars, as well as in the longitudinal lines of the platforms. Sessions discovered a means whereby our long, high, American cars might be made to run as steadIly as .the low, short, English cars, and the that for years his now vice occurred to none of our many car builders is a circumstance strongly favoring the claim that his invention possesses novelty. If his device, or anything operating like it, and capable bfproducing the same useful results, was known in the prior art, it is remarkable that its practical utility was not sooner recognized and understood. All prior buffing structures lacked what was necessary to give them the effective force that. the Sessions elevated spring buffer-pL'ltes are capable of exerting. We have that the value of the Sessions improvement as a means of diminishing the force of shocks and counteractblg the tendency,(lf cars to sway when in motion was promptly recognized by the principal raIlroads of the country, and, while utility is not conclusive proof of invention, it is strongly suggestive of it. Owing to the differences already there was greater necesalluded to between American and English sity for additional means of steadying cars of the former class than 'of latter,andyet no one suggested the elevated spring buffer-plates. The defenpants are at lIberty to lIse the vestibule structure without .the Sesas well as all the various prior buffing de':ices, whether

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FEDERAL' REPORTER,

voL 38.

patents or not, ana yet they persist iriasserting their right denQuncing· them as worthless. If :tbey.;are sincere in thus characterizing tbisimprovement, why do they squander money in attaching .it! to their cttrs?' Praetwal railroad men do used not adopt Rnd use devic6S,tbat,ateof.no value. The' by thddefendants are cover.ed by both olaims of the: patent, and ali junction Will issne, as prayed for in tbebill, and the' case will go to 8 master, to take testilI\ony and Teport the damages.
to' use ,the Sessions

'PNITim

STATES

AxUr.' LUBIl.ICATOR.

CO. 11.'WURSTO.

(OircuieOourt. 'E,'i]). New York.

April 5. 1889.)

PATBNTS ll'oB,INVENTliONs--INFm:RGEMENT-AxLE LtmBJOATOBB. .

I'

'.. The c1l'im .1I>f letters pl'tent 31. 1881, to Laskey & Arnold. for an' a:de lubricator. is, in combination with tbeaxle and box, the ojl chamber colilmunicating with tne interior of tbebOll:, and provided with aliupply orifi:ce; an,in.wardly opening'self-acUng valve, and a malescrew·thread upon a injector,provided with a diseharge adapted to the sUPP'ly orlfice andjush back the. valve. and &''Conphngslee'te provIded with an lDternal tbrea to engage WIth the h1,theo.i1 oblj,mber. all,arratlged, etc. All the clll,im!l in tbe original . rlljected, and the' patent was granted o;Oly when the descrip.tlon iJ.!ldc!aiIn:were modified 'by 'sta;ting that tile coupling sleeve was provided with the :thread, etc.: ,Various,methods of lubricatinga:X:les had been previon,ly de. v.ised·.. and that descriped in letters. patent No, 120,515. Octo.ber 81. to Jlarvey. consisted ot :witll a and a commUDlcating nozzlll; 'adapted for IDsertion mto a conIcal orifice lD the hub or journal.. Held,that a device having a conical nozzle fitting into a con.icalorifice, of,the &crewed sleeve. was not an infringelllen.t.